


Power Play

by newnumbertwo



Category: Battlestar Galactica, Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-21
Updated: 2012-05-21
Packaged: 2017-11-14 21:19:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/519614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newnumbertwo/pseuds/newnumbertwo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life is a series of choices.  After the election rigging is discovered, Laura Roslin has two choices.  In this AU she makes the more difficult choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Power Play

To offset Doll!Laura, I present President MacBeth!Laura

Rating: K+  
Word Count: 1,232  
Disclaimer: don't own them.  
Summary: Life is a series of choices.  After the election rigging is discovered, Laura Roslin has two choices.  In this AU she makes the more difficult choice.

 

  
  


Bill Adama sat facing his President.  In the course of an hour he went from feeling relief that his preferred candidate had won—he shuddered to think about Baltar sitting in Laura’s seat—to feeling betrayed by two of the people closest to him in the worlds.  He wasn’t sure what he thought Laura was going to say when he took the shuttle to see her.  He certainly wanted it to have been Tory’s machination.  Bill wanted Laura to have been blameless.  But she wasn’t.  At the same time, she was honest about it, and   she had only good intentions for her actions.  

So Bill had decided to leave it up to her.  He’d support her regardless of her decision.  But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to goad her into making the choice that was better for her as a person.  Laura thought of everyone else before herself; Bill felt compelled to think of Laura before everyone else.   

“You won’t do it.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve gone this far, but that’s it.”

“Why?”

“If you go through with this, you’ll die inside.  Probably move that cancer of yours to your heart.”

“You’re probably right, Bill, but I’m willing to die a thousand deaths for this fleet.”

“I know.  That’s what separates you from Baltar.”

“And that’s why I have to go through with this.”

“What about me, my role?”

“You won’t have a role.  One of us has to come through this clean.  That’s you.  You’re the one with the guns; you must be trusted and trustworthy.  I don’t have that luxury anymore.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Whatever’s necessary.  You’ll understand that I can’t include you in much of it.”

“You think I can’t handle a little blood on my hands?”

“Not like this, Bill.”

“What about Gaeta?”

“He’s going to hear the truth, and it’s going to come from me.”

“He could expose you.”

“He won’t.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t worry about it.  Just send him over here.”

“Should I be present at this meeting?”

“It might help, yes.”

“I have a bad feeling about this, Madame President.”

“Me too, Admiral.  But I have a worse feeling about New Caprica.”

\------------------------

As Bill went to retrieve Felix Gaeta, Laura sat musing over her options.  She had chosen the more difficult of her two choices.  The truly right thing usually was more difficult.  But if things went her way, then it would be worth it—for everyone involved.  Laura had worked through many scenarios involving New Caprica, and none of them ended well.  Most of them ended with a cylon invasion and the annihilation of the human race.  So, she clearly had no intention of allowing settlement there.  

She needed to get through to Gaeta.  From the few conversations they’d shared, she understood he was a logical thinker.  It seemed diplomacy would be the best strategy. 

“You wanted to see me, Madame President.”

“Yes, Mr. Gaeta.  I understand you uncovered a conspiracy in this election.  I feel you deserve to know the truth.  You see, sometimes morality is tricky.  I knew Dr. Baltar’s presidency would be a disaster that the human race could not afford, so to me, it was the right thing to steal an election for the sake of the fleet.  Trust me, I don’t benefit from this at all.  If someone worthy, who I thought could handle the job, came along, I’d hand it over in a heartbeat.  But Baltar isn’t and never will be that person.  I can’t hand the mantle to someone I believe to be working in collusion with the cylons.”

“I thought he was cleared of those charges, Madame President.”

“You proved the picture was altered, yes.  That just proves Shelley Godfrey guilty, not Baltar innocent.  I believe it was a double blind designed to throw us; maybe they were toying with Baltar too--I don’t know.  I’m going to tell you something that I’ve only ever told Admiral Adama:  When I was dying, I relived my last day on Caprica, and when I was standing in the town square by the fountain, waiting for my appointment with the president of the school union, I saw Baltar kissing a woman who looked to be the same as the Shelley Godfrey model.”

“But you have no proof?”

“No.  Just my gut.  But I know I’m right about him.”

“Like you know about Earth?”

“Yes, exactly.  It’s that kind of feeling.  And I know New Caprica is not the place for our fleet, and I know Baltar is not the right person to lead it.”

“How do you know I won’t expose you?”

“Actually, I was hoping you would.  I want you and Admiral Adama to explain to Dr. Baltar there was an error in tabulation of the votes, tell him he’s the president elect, and then watch him very carefully.  He’s been very slippery lately, making random visits to Cloud Nine in particular.  I want to know what he’s up to.  You see, someone’s backing him, supporting him.  He had no political interest before; I practically had to beg him to accept my offer of vice presidency, but then all of a sudden, he decided he wanted to play politician for real, and run for the big office.”

“You suspect the cylons?”

“Or someone equally dangerous like Zarek.”

“I’ll offer my services to be his Chief of Staff and follow him around.  We still have some surveillance equipment around.  We’ll get to the bottom of this, Madame President.”

“Thank you, Mr. Gaeta.”

“What’ll happen after we get the evidence we need?”

“We’ll expose him, and try him for crimes against humanity.”

“What would you have done if I didn’t catch you?”

“I would have accepted the presidency and asked Admiral Adama to monitor Baltar’s activity.”

“Why do you trust me with this information?”

“You’ve proven yourself to be a fine officer.  I know Admiral Adama thinks very highly of you.  Plus, I don’t really have much choice at this point.  I must go forward, and I can’t do that if you were determined to see Baltar as our president.  Now you understand my motives, and you can help me.  And, technically, you’re telling him the truth, and giving him the presidency.  I want him to feel like he’s sitting pretty, so he’ll do something stupid.”

“I’m glad you’re on our side, Madame President.  I think you give the cylons a run for their cubits.”

“Thank you.  But I certainly have a lot of support.”

“Why don’t you go to our raptor, Mr. Gaeta; I’ll be right there,” Bill said.  He clearly wanted to have a conference with the President.  Gaeta was used to that after so many months.

“Yes, Admiral.  Good Evening, Madame President.”

“You too, Mr. Gaeta.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this was what you were planning?” Bill asked, after Gaeta had left the room.

“I didn’t know until I said it, just now.  But it makes the most sense.  It’s the only way to clear you and your officers of all wrongdoing, make me look honest and trustworthy, and  expose a serious threat to our fleet.”

“You’d make a hell of a triad player, you know that?”

“I may have financed my education that way.”

“Really?”

“Maybe.”

“Remind me never to play against you, then.”

“I thought we were done with that.”

“What?”

“Playing against each other.”

“We are.  Goodnight, Madame President.”

“Admiral.”

  
  



End file.
